Global Times: At a review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in New York on Monday, Shen Jian, Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs of China, outlined China’s position on preventing nuclear proliferation, stating that certain countries are pursuing double standards on non-proliferation, thereby undermining the authority of the treaty and the safeguards and supervision system of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported China Central Television (CCTV).
Shen specifically pointed to Japan’s recent negative developments regarding nuclear armament, stressing that the international community should remain highly vigilant.
In recent years Japan has made a series of negative moves and statements regarding the possession of nuclear weapons, including promoting revisions to the pacifist constitution’s “three non-nuclear principles,” expanding long-range strike capabilities, and seeking the deployment of nuclear weapons by allies on its territory, Shen said.
Preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons is one of the core objectives of the NPT, said Shen, noting that the current global strategic security environment continues to deteriorate, and certain countries are applying double standards in addressing nuclear non-proliferation issues, seriously undermining the confidence of the vast majority of non-nuclear-weapon states in the authority of the treaty and the safeguards system of the IAEA.
Shen said that China firmly opposes the proliferation of nuclear weapons, advocates the comprehensive, faithful and balanced implementation of all obligations under the NPT, and stands ready to work with the international community to uphold and strengthen the international nuclear non-proliferation regime with the treaty as its cornerstone.
He also said that the role of nuclear weapons in national security policies should be reduced. At present, some nuclear-weapon states and their allies are continuously strengthening and sharing extended deterrence arrangements, and the trend of so-called “friendly” nuclear proliferation is a cause for concern.
Shen called on nuclear-weapon states to withdraw all nuclear weapons deployed overseas back to their own territories.
He urged countries involved in “nuclear sharing” and “extended deterrence” arrangements to refrain from upgrading or replicating such arrangements in other regions, and stressed the need to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons through “nuclear sharing.”
Shen urged the international community to remain highly vigilant, strengthen monitoring and verification, take seriously the severe imbalance between the production capacity and consumption of sensitive nuclear materials, and resolutely curb attempts by certain countries to pursue nuclear armament.
Shen also expressed serious concerns over the nuclear submarine cooperation among the US, the UK and Australia, stating that such cooperation involves the transfer of nuclear materials and should not be advanced by a small number of countries by bypassing multilateral mechanisms, according to CCTV report.
